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| Futenma air station (File Photo) |
Author: Shino Hateruma, Waseda University
Okinawa is trapped in a dilemma regarding US military bases in the prefecture. For the past 70 years, the bases have helped deter external attacks on Japan, including on Okinawa. But with over 25,000 US military personnel in Okinawa, and about 18 per cent of its land area being used by the US military, the presence of the bases endangers the lives and properties of the local people.
Since the 27-year US occupation of Okinawa, accidents and crimes committed by US military personnel have instilled a sense of fear among locals. Recent reports that North Korean and Chinese missiles can reach Okinawa enhance the fear of entrapment. Any hostilities between China and Japan could also affect locals due to Okinawa’s proximity to the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands.
The most prominent political battle is over the relocation of US Marine Corps Air Station Futenma. About 100,000 people live around the edges of the Futenma air station in Ginowan. There is a university and 19 schools. The rape of a teenage school girl by a US Marine in 1995 intensified local frustrations and an agreement was reached between the Japanese and US governments to relocate Futenma within Okinawa. But it is a difficult condition for the people of Okinawa to accept.
The issue of US bases has turned into a confrontation between Okinawa and the Japanese central government.
In December 2013, the former Okinawa governor Hirokazu Nakaima approved the landfill of Oura Bay in Henoko to construct a replacement facility of the Futenma air station. Since then the Japanese government has been investigating drilling in the area. The Okinawa Defense Bureau (ODB) has restricted access to the investigation area as well as the planned construction site.
On 23 March, Okinawa’s new Governor Takeshi Onaga ordered the ODB to stop the drilling surveys because there was a high probability that the concrete blocks used to anchor marking floats were damaging coral on the seabed. But on 30 March, the Minister of Agriculture Yoshimasa Hayashi invalidated the governor’s order.
Both the Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga and the Prime Minister Shinzo Abe have since met with Onaga on the issue. Abe and Suga both stated that relocating to Henoko is the only solution, but Onaga stressed, ‘I have a strong conviction that a new base cannot be constructed in Henoko’. In his meeting with Suga, Onaga argued that US bases were constructed against the will of local residents during the occupation. He stated that ‘Okinawa has never offered voluntarily its land for military bases’.
Onaga’s position is somewhat surprising given that it contradicts that of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), of which he used to be the Okinawa Chapter’s president. Despite this, Onaga led the January 2013 protests against building a new military base in Henoko and argues that his opposition is consistent with Japan’s national interests.
Onaga’s determination is backed by a series of election victories. The results of the Nago mayoral election, the gubernatorial election and the lower house election show that many people of Okinawa believe there is a third option regarding the Futenma relocation that does not involve either the Henoko plan or continued use of Futenma air station.
Japan’s government has reiterated that the base must be relocated within Okinawa, but the locals are not convinced. Many locals believe that because US marines are not stationed permanently in Futenma, but rather rotate within the West Pacific, maintaining the base is not necessary to deter an attack on Japan. And even if the Futenma base was relocated, the US Kadena air base and Japanese Self-Defense Forces based in Naha would continue their daily efforts to maintain regional defence and stability.
The people of Okinawa do not dislike the United States. They understand the importance of the Japan–US alliance. They like American culture so much that one former US military base has been turned into a commercial town named American Village. Open-base festivals are also exciting seasonal events for young people and families. But the residents do feel that the negative impacts of US bases — both current and historical — are too heavy. Their minimum demand is that there will be no new base in Henoko.
So can Okinawa and mainland Japan find a compromise on US military bases? Onaga has suggested that Abe tell US President Barack Obama that Okinawa is strongly against the current Futenma relocation plan. But Abe is unlikely to do so because Japan has pledged to uphold the current plan.
If the Japanese government truly believes that the Henoko base is the only option, it will need to convince the people of Okinawa. This will require explaining why all the other options were rejected. The Abe government also needs to reach out to Okinawa and try to understand why it opposes the current plan.
Okinawa must refrain from simply rejecting national policy. Okinawa must instead elaborate a strategy for effectively conveying its concerns to Tokyo and Washington, as well as to other countries if necessary. If Okinawa and mainland Japan do not both make a serious effort to resolve the problem, the Futenma air station will continue to a danger to locals and a thorn in US-Japan alliance relations for decades to come.
Shino Hateruma is a PhD candidate at the Graduate School of Asia-Pacific Studies, Waseda University. She worked as a researcher at the Regional Security Policy Division, Okinawa Prefectural Government from July 2013 to March 2015.
This Article first appeared on The East Asia Forum and is reposted here under a Creative Commons license.